Rat biting for no reason

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RattoPazzo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2020
Messages
113
Location
Italy
Hi, I have a problem with one of my new rats thah has started to bite me for no reason. I'll bi minding my own bisness or just moving my hand near her and she bites, first just a bit and then harder. I've had a fear aggressive rat that was also a bit cage agressive, but this is someting else. also, makeing a yeep sound makes her bite down even more...

any suggestion?

she is 1.5 and living with another rat. she is also barbering, if that could be helpfull.
before thay came to me (3 months ago) they where in a somewat negletfull situation so maybe that's it, but she started biting like this 2 months after I got them.

thenks
 
Sometimes rescues take a couple of months before their more confident personality characteristics comes out. Sounds like she doesn't trust in the least. When she bites down gently at first she's telling you to go away, she doesn't trust you or she's scared. When you don't listen she will bite harder and harder. You can respect her wishes and remove your hand when she does that. It's probably safer for you
 
hi, sorry for the late reply

ok, but what if I do try to take my hand away and she doesn't let go?

It's a bit of a weird situation that we are in also because her and her sister where supposed to be introduced to my older rat, but due to a cyst and some very difficult characters intros stopped prematurely. They now share the same room for freeroam but live in separate cages, which might be escalating the situation.

also, they are not rescue in the typical sense as they come from a breeder that had to take them back from an adopter that couldn't take care of them anymore. before they came to me they were living in an overcrowded cage.
I'm trying to figure out what the best course of action might be, as I doubt that intros will ever be successful, but I also don't want to give them back to the breeder.
To get back to the biting thing, could it be connected to this unstable situation? maybe sharing freeroam area is stressing her out...
 
the new rats (sigma and runa) where both very skittish in the beginning. I think the one that is now biting, runa, was a bit more timid, for sure she was the submissive. after intros started she began to show a more aggressive side to her personality that at the time I believed to be due to the fact that between her and my older rat (tamira), she was taking the alfa role (but once in the cage with her sister sigma, she had to be the submissive).
 
UPDATE
It's now been 3 months since I adopted the two new girls and things have, unfortunately, not improved in the least. Last night was the last straw when sigma, the rat that seamed to have a good relationship with me, bit my hand in a nasty, aggressive and unprovoked way. The day before her sister bit my thumb and began to chase my feet as I was trying to get to a tissue. Both have now bitten me and others on multiple occasions, and it's just becoming too much for me to handle. Every day they seam to become more aggressive towards me and the other people in my house, and it's not lack of confidence or trust in me. I had to deal with that with my rat Nifti, and she never chased me or tried to bite harder when I was pulling my hand away.
This two rats most probably have hormonal issues, but unfortunately I do not have the funds to spay both of them. And even if I could find the money, the time required to reeducate them is time that I do not have at this point in my life... Also my older girl is now 2 years an one month, so time is prescius with her.
Given all of this, I decided that most probably the best thing to do for everyone is to give the rats to someone with more experience, that knows how to deal with such character problems, as I can see that all the rats involved are no longer happy with the situation (all are territorial, scratching and rubbing themselves on every surface they find). It is not a decision I take lightly, I've been going back and forth for a few weeks on this, trying all kinds of methods to make things work.

Sorry for the long message, I just needed to write it all down, and this forum has always helped me to get a clearer picture of what could be the best thing to do. If you have any advice or even just observations, feel free to respond. I'd like to know how other people have dealt with similar situations.

For now, thanks for reading
 
Hi, I have a problem with one of my new rats thah has started to bite me for no reason. I'll bi minding my own bisness or just moving my hand near her and she bites, first just a bit and then harder. I've had a fear aggressive rat that was also a bit cage agressive, but this is someting else. also, makeing a yeep sound makes her bite down even more...

any suggestion?

she is 1.5 and living with another rat. she is also barbering, if that could be helpfull.
before thay came to me (3 months ago) they where in a somewat negletfull situation so maybe that's it, but she started biting like this 2 months after I got them.

thenks
Do her bites draw blood? Rats nip as well, it's a form of communication actually.
 
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